Pileup injures 10, closes Highway 4

Friday

Mar 14, 2014 at 12:01 AM

HOLT - Ten people were taken to hospitals and a section of Highway 4 west of Stockton was closed for hours Thursday morning following a major-injury collision involving four vehicles, the California Highway Patrol said.

Jason Anderson

HOLT - Ten people were taken to hospitals and a section of Highway 4 west of Stockton was closed for hours Thursday morning following a major-injury collision involving four vehicles, the California Highway Patrol said.

The collision occurred at 6:35 a.m. near Holt in an unincorporated part of San Joaquin County east of Middle River Bridge, officers said. Two people sustained major injuries and at least one was listed in critical condition, Officer Hector Davila said.

According to the CHP, a 24-year-old Oakley man in a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse was traveling east on Highway 4 when he crossed over a solid yellow line into westbound traffic and attempted to pass several vehicles. The Eclipse collided head-on with a westbound 1988 Ford Club Wagon van carrying nine people, authorities said.

The collision caused both drivers to lose control of their vehicles, officers said. The Eclipse left the roadway and came to rest in a dirt irrigation ditch while the van swerved into the eastbound lane and sideswiped a 2008 Ford pickup before colliding with a 2010 Chevy pickup, the CHP said.

The driver of the Eclipse suffered blunt force trauma to the head as well as a laceration to his neck and shoulder, officers said. He was flown to a hospital in critical condition, authorities said.

All nine occupants of the van were also taken to hospitals, officers said. Their ages ranged from 42 to 70, Davila said. The most badly injured was a 42-year-old Stockton woman who sustained a broken pelvis, the CHP said.

Highway 4 was closed in both directions until about 9 a.m. as emergency crews tended to the victims and cleared the scene. One vehicle was still smoking more than an hour after the crash, causing fire crews to be recalled to the scene.

Contact reporter Jason Anderson at (209) 546-8279 or janderson@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/crimeblog or on Twitter @Stockton911.